Mayan Gender Roles

In the Mayan culture, gender is something that is beyond just male and female. It defines the way that a person lives their life. The people learn this through enculturation and are taught their roles as males and females at a very young age. Their social norms and cultural practices also helps with enculturation. 
As in any culture, gender roles play an important role in Mayan society. As the culture and civilization developed, the population was divided into working classes. Men and women were assigned specific duties. Woman's social roles on society were different from mens but not inferior to them. They would assist their husbands in whatever tasks they needed help with. Both men and women were equally important in food production, but the women were in charge of the cooking. If a husband planted a harvest of food, it was the wife's job to harvest it.
In relation to politics, men and woman shared rights to a powerful political position. The reign of a queen was not common or popular, but there is evidence that queens did exist.A married couple has a dominant person and the other assists.
In reference to religion, deities are depicted as both male and female. The corn deity is both male and female. This is the way that equality is depicted in the Mayan culture. It shows that without a male and femal part together, there would be no unison between genders. 
Gender roles can be expressed through personal style. All people were considered to be both male and female, the male side being the right and female being the left. One gender was not seen as superior to the other.

Reference:
Hurbon, Jessica
2013 Ancient Maya Gender. Electronic document,
http://mayan-gender-hurbon.wikispaces.com

The Modern Maya Face Discrimination

The indigenous Mayans of Central America have a rich culture and proud people. However, it is an unfortunate reality that the Mayan descendants in this region currently suffer from discrimination, and as a result are victims of poverty and health concerns. The Mayan people have a tragic history. With the Spanish colonization stripping them of their land, the Mayans were either enslaved or left with very little in their possession. Today, the new generations of these indigenous people are also facing expulsion from their land – this time, to make way for hydro-electric, mining or farming projects. In Honduras, the Mayans also have land disputes concerning the retrieval of African palm oil – a key ingredient in cosmetics and processed foods. In the country of Guatemala, ethnic Mayans experience much discrimination, and are often regarded as the outsiders in society. Because of their status in their communities, they have limited access to education, health care, and other basic services. The reason for much of the prejudice against the Mayan descendants is their inability to fully recover from past exploitation. "The indigenous population was always seen as cheap labor and this persists to this day," said Guatemalan anthropologist Alvaro Pop, a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Statistics prove the poverty rates of the Maya in Central America to be unbelievably high. In Guatemala, the Maya population encompasses approximately 42 percent of the country’s 14.3 million total. Within the indigenous community, poverty rates are recorded as 80 percent. Lack of adequate health care is also a pressing issue, as six in every ten children are chronically malnourished. Perhaps most shocking, the infant mortality rate has hit an alarming rate of 40 per 1,000 live births, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Mayans are evidently still recovering from the collapse of their once great civilization, the forced servitude of their people, and their place in modern society.

Reference:

Morales, Henry
     2012     Maya Descendants Face Discrimination And Poverty. Electronic document,
          http://www.businessinsider.com/maya-descendants-face-discrimination-2012-12

Language

 Mayan Language

The Mayan language is considered to be a mixture of over 60 related languages and is spoken by over 6 million people in central American. The Mayan empire lasted about 3,500 years before it was taken over by the Spanish. The Mayan language is said to be so diverse because they were spread over a large region; therefore, it is normal for Mayan people from different regions to not understand each others dialects and pronunciation.

The Mayan language is derived from Proto-Mayan, an old Mayan language spoke about 5,000 years ago. Those who currently speak Mayan commonly reside in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. In the different areas where the language is spoken, it is split into five groups. Those groups consist of Cholan-Tzeltalan, Huastecan, Q’anjobalan-Chujean, Quichean-Mamean, and Yucatecan. For many years Mayan speaking citizens of the central America were against integrating into the English language; however, they are now open to learning and speaking the English language. 

This picture illustrates some of the Mayan hieroglyphic syllabary.

References

Thompson, Irene

     2013   Mayan Language Family. Electronic document,

          http://aboutworldlanguages.com/mayan-language-family

 2013   Mayan Language Resources. Electronic document,

         http://www.languagecourse.net/mayan-language-resources.php  

Fooksman, Leon 
2013   Mayan Languages: Our Diverse Culture. Electronic document,
          http://www.guatemalanmaya.org/index.php?q=featured/mayan-languages-our-diverse-culture 

Marriage

The Guatemalan-Indian Village

The Mayans in San Pedro, Guatemala have a different way of meeting and getting married. Many cultures practice arranged marriages. However, the Mayans are not obligated to have an arranged marriage. The boys have few opportunities to meet girls.For the most part, the male will approach the female (between the ages of twelve and sixteen) as she has a pot on her head and delivers a speech to try and woo her. It is a sign of bad luck if the female drops the bucket and sometimes she will even eat a piece of the broken clay pot in order to change her luck.

Many woman are not very attracted to courtship. They will be obligated to fulfill all of her husband's sexual demands and her mother-in-law may not get along with her. The longer she prolongs the marriage, the wider panel she will have to choose, which means she has more power. Many of the girls enjoy gossiping about their swains, which are the men who try to woo the women, because that moment in time is when the girls are popular.

After the girl agrees to the marriage, the man sends her gifts for months. When the two finally get married, the male usually moves in with his wife and her family. They usually do this because it is less likely for a male to have problems with his father-in-law than it is for a female to have problems with her mother-in-law. The male shows his respect by sweeping the patio in the morning and bringing firewood for the family in the evening. However, in other situations, the man goes to the woman's house and she takes some clothes to run away with him. Eventually, the burden falls on the woman to please the man. Although these traditions are a huge part of Mayan culture, many do not do this anymore.

Reference

Tz'utuhil, Arte Maya 

     2013   Life in a Guatamalen Indian Village. Electronic document,

          http://www.artemaya.com/artist_life_bp2.html